Propeller driving unit



M. L .vcARPE-NTIER 1,879,081-

` PROPELLER DRIVING UNIT Filed sept. 22. 1930 2 sheets-sheet 1'v l will' l f lllllll.

, INVENTOR MELBOURNE L.. OAHPE/YUER BY 4,5 ATTORNEY Sept 27, vl932- M. L.. CARPENTIER I y 1,879,081

PROPELLER DRIVING UNIT Filed sept. 22, 1930 2 sheets-sheet 2 ATTORNEY v INVENTOR MLBOURNE L. PENWER. 24? 6e l Patented Sept. 27, 1932 Unire!) siAf'rI-zs Pfrela'r OFFICE HELBOURNE L. CARPENTIER, on HIGHLAND PARK, MICHIGAN, AssIGNOR To CHRYSLER CORPORATION, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A lCORPORATION 0F DELAWARE vPR01?ELDER DRIVING UNI'I` Application led vSeptember 22, 1930. Serial No. 483,568.

i formation of only a substantially small passage in the bottom of the hull for its accommodation so as to obviate the packing heretofore required in order to form a water tight seal; to provide an extensible unit of r. this kind which is adapted to be used in conjunction with motors or driving members having various elevational locations with respect to the bottom of the hull of a boat; to provide an angularly adjustable driving unit; to provide a propeller driving unit of this kind which may be readily conditioned to drive the propeller in either direction; to provide driving mechanism in which the same parts may be used to selectively drive a propeller in both directions, so as to permit units of identical construction to be conditioned, during assembling, for use on either the starboard side or the port side of a twin screw propelled boat; and to provide a driving mechanism for operatively connecting a propeller to a motor which does not require the use of universal joints, or other flexible connections, and thus to obviate the vibrations generally present in devices which require such flexible connecting elements.

' An illustrative embodimentv of my invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a vertical section of a propeller driving vunit embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear side elevation of the unit shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is aside elevationv of a motor boat showing my improved propeller driving mechanism. n

Fig. 4 is a rear end elevation illustrating anapplication ofthe propeller'driving mechanismin a twin screw driven boat.

Fig. 5 is a vertical section'taken onthe aline 5 5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section vshowing the propeller shaft supporting and driving mechanism in detail. Y

In the form'shown, the propeller driving unit-includes an externally located propeller shaft having a propeller 4on one end. `The propeller shaft is journaled in bearings which are supported in a housing having a tubular extension which is adapted to be inserted through an opening in the bottom of the hull of a vboat and secured thereto so asto be supported independently `by the bottom of the hull. The tubular extension forms one section of a separable shaft housing which has an extensible concentric sleeve arranged in telescoping relation inthe upper open end thereof. Mounted on the sleeve is a gear housing which is pivotally supported 4on a transmission case of` a driving memberso as to vbe angularly adjustable. A substantially vertical shaft including separable and ex` tensible sections having beveled gears on its respectively opposite ends .provides a connecting member for transmitting power from the driving shaft yof a driving member tothe propeller shaft. A reversible bevel gear mounted on the propeller shaft in mesh with the adjacent bevel gear of the extensible shaft is yadapted to be placed on either side of the latter bevel gear during assemblingv so as to drive the propeller shaft and the propeller in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.

In the illustration shown, amotor boat l is provided with an internalcombustion engine. Q-orother prime mover having a transmission 3 lfrom which a driving shaft 4 extends. The rear end ofthe vdriving shaft 4 is journaled in a bearing amounted in a 'tubular' boss 6 formed on .the rear wall of a transmission casing 7. The shaft l has `a Vbeveled gear 8 on itsouter end which is enclosed withinV a casing 9 having an inclined open side ythat is ,provided with a removable cover l0. The front wall 1l lof the casing 9 has an aperture for receiving the shaft 4 and it is providedon yits .forward side with a circular flange l2 which is received inthe rear end of the tubular `boss 6. The casing 9 is rotatablyradjustable with respect to the transmission casing 7 and it may be securely held in a selected position by bolts 13 which extend through arcuate slots 14 in the rear wall 11 of the casing and are threaded in the end of the tubular boss 6.

l rThe casing 9 has an open lower end through which a sleeve 15 having a radial flange 16 extends. The radial flange 16 is seated upon thelower extremity of the casing and rigidly attached .thereto by bolts 17 which extend through the flange and are threaded in the walls of the casing. The sleeve 16 also has an enlarged upper extremity in which a bearing 18 is mounted.

The lower end of thesleeve 15 is received in telescoping'fashion in the upper end portion of a tubular housing 19 which extends upwardly through an opening 2O in the bottcm 21 ofthe hull of the boat 1. This housing is provided with a radial flange 22 located adjacent the outer surface of the bottom 21 of the hull and secured thereto by bolts 23. rlhe flange 22 forms a water tight seal around the housing 19 preventing water from leaking through the opening 20. A cap 24 having a central aperture for receiving the sleeve 15 Vis threaded on the upper extremity of the tubular housing 19. Located between the end of the cap and the extremity of the housing 19 is a packing ring 25 by which the outer surface of the sleeve 15 is frictionally engaged so as toy prevent the leakage of water into the housing 19 and of oil therefrom.

Formed on the lower end of the tubular housing 19 is apropeller shaft supporting head 26 having a substantially bullet-shaped contour in which spaced bearings 27 and 28 are mounted. The head 26 has open front and rear extremities which are provided with threaded closures 29 and 30 through which the bearings 27 and 28, respectively are insertible. A propeller shaft 31 journaledv in the bearings 27 and 28 and having a propeller 32 extends rearwardly through an aperture in the threaded cap 30. The threaded cap 30 has a packing gland 33 by which a seal is formed between the periphery of the propeller shaft 31 and the cap 30 so as to prevent the leakage of water into the interior of the head 26. TheV shaft 31 is externally located with respect to the hull of the boat and is misaligned with respect to the driving shaft 4.

r1`he driving shaft 4 and the propeller shaft 1 are connected together by an extensible shaft which includes separable shaft sections 34 and 35. These shaft sections are splined together in telescoping relation, as shown at 36 in Fig. 1, and they are provided on their respectively opposite ends with bevel gears 37 and 38 which mesh with the bevel gear 8 of the driven shaft 4 and with a bevel gear 39 on the propeller shaft 31, respectively. The meshed bevel (Years 8 and 37 are located in the gear casing. 9 and the meshed gears 38 and 39 are located `in the head 26 of the propeller shaft. This extensible shaft, together with the extensible housing within which it is mounted, permit the propeller driving unit to be conditioned for use in connection with driving members whichare located at various elevations with respect to the bottom of the hull of a boat.

The sleeve 15 of the housing and the upper section of the sha-ft are independently supported on the transmission casing 7, and driving shaft 4, and the tubular extension 19 of the shaft housing and the lower section 35 of the-extensible shaft are independently supported on the bottom 21 of the hull. With this construction, the unit may be conveniently assembled in a boat by first attaching the Lipper portion of the propeller driving mechanism which includes the shaft housing sleeve 15 and upper section 35 vof the extensible shaft, to the transmission easing 7. This part of the mechanism may be adjustably positioned angularly with respect to the bottom of the hull so as to condition it for use in connection with hulls of various shapes. The next operation involved in assembling the propeller driving mechanism in a boat consists in inserting the tubular part 19 of the lower portion of the mechanism, together with the lower section 34 of the shaft, upA wardly through the aperture 2O in the bottom 21 of the hull until the radial flange 22' is seated upon the lower surface of the bottom of the hull. In this manner the driving unit may be conveniently installed from the respectively opposite sides of the bottom of the hull without requiring the mechanism to be materially disassembled.

The bevel gear 39 of the propeller shaft 31 is keyed at 40 to the shaft and is held in spaced relation to the rear end of the head 26 by a sleeve 41 which has a radial flange 42 engaging the front side of the bearing 28 in which the propeller shaft is journaled. The bearing 28 is held against rearward move- 1 ment by a colla-r 43 which is integrally formed on the shaft 41. The bevel gear 38 carries a hub 44 of reduced diameter on which the bearing 27 is seated. A shoulder 45 is also formed on the bevel gear 39 for engaging the rear side of the bearing 27 which is held against frontward movement by a washer 46 on the extreme front end of thepropeller shaft 31. Y l

Assuming that the driving shaft 4 rotates in a clockwise direction, as shown by the arrow in Fig. 1, it will be seen that the extensible shaft and the propeller shaft are rotated ina counter-clockwise direction for the reason that the bevel gears 8 and 39 are each located on the same side of the extensible shaft. With my improved propeller driving mechanism, the direction of rotation of the propellerl may be predetermined during assembling of the unit by selectively placing the bevel gear 39 on either the front or rear sides of the bevel gear 38, as viewed in Fig. l. The construction of the mechanism permits this selection without necessitating the use of parts of different designs. s To reverse the direction of rotation, of the propeller, it is merely necessary to remove the propeller shaft from the head 26 by first removing the nut 47 after the cap 29 is removed. The shaft 31 may then be moved rearwardly after the cap 30 of the shaft housing is displaced and the bevel gear 39 and sleeve 41 may be lowered from the head 26 through an opening in the bottom thereof which is normally closed by a cover 48. In reassembling the mechanism, the bevel gear 39 is placed in the dotted line position shown at 49 in Fig. 6 and the sleeve 4l is reversed end for end with respect to the position shown in Fig. l. This feature of the invention permits propeller driving units of identical construction to be used on the port side and starboard sides, respectively of twin screw propelled boats of the type shown in Fig. 4, it being understood that the pitch of one of these propellers is reversed with respect to each other.

With the above propeller driving mecha-- f nism, a positive driving connection is formed between the propeller and the driving member without the aid of universal joints, or other flexible connections which have heretofore been the source of vibration in power transmissions of motor boats. The elimination of these flexible joints materially reduces vibration and prolongs the life of the bearings and other parts of the structure.

Although but one specic embodiment 'f this invention has herein been shown and described, it will be understood that various changes in the size, shape and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and it is not my intention to limit its scope other than by the terms of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. In a motor boat, a driving member therein, a support for said driving member within the hull of said boat, a propeller driving mechanism including a pair of telescoping separable sections, one swingably mounted on said support, the other section being rigidly secured to said hull, and releasible means for rigidly fixing said swingable section to said support,

2. In a motor boat, a driving member therein, a support within the hull of said boat and a propeller driving mechanism including a pair of telescoping separable sections, one swingably mounted on said support, the other section being rigidly secured to said hull, said propeller driving mechanism being extensible so as to condition the same for use in conjunction with driving members having various elevational locations with respect to the bottom of said hull.

3. In a motor boat, a driving member therein, a support within the hull of said boat, and a propeller driving mechanism including a pair of separable sections, one of said sections being insertable from the exterior through an opening in the bottom of said hull and adapted to be secured thereto; the other section being adj ustably mounted on said support, and means for securing the latter section in a selected position, said propeller driving mechanism being extensible so as to condition the same for use in conjunction with driving members having various elevational locations with respect to the bottom of said hull.

4. In a motor boat, a driving member therein, a shaft housing extending from the proximity of said driving member through an opening in the bottom of the hull of said boat, an enlarged head on the external end of said housing, a connecting shaft in said housing, meshed gears on the adjacent portions of said driving shaft and connecting shaft, a gear on said connecting shaft, a propeller shaft journaled in said head extending on diametrically opposite sides of the latter gear and having unobstructed sections on opposite sides thereof for receiving a pinion, and a pinion adapted to be selectively mounted on diametrically opposite sides of the adjacent gear of said connecting shaft so as t0 predetermine the direction of rotation of said propeller shaft.

5. In a boat having a motor, a propeller driving unit including an internal driving shaft, a support therefor, a misaligned driven shaft, a support for said driven shaft, a connecting shaft including separable sections, coacting members on the adjacent portions of said shafts for transmitting power from said driving shaft to said driven shaft, and a housing for said connecting shaft including a pair of separable housing sections, one fixed to the hull of said boat and the other swingably mounted on said motor.

6. In a boat having a motor including a driving shaft, a propeller driving mechanism including apair of separable sections, one swingably mounted on said motor having an axis concentric with said driving shaft and the other supported by the hull of said boat, and releasable means for rigidly fixing said swingable section to said motor.

MELBOURNE L. CARPENTIER. 

